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BioWare Says it's Planning to Take Mass Effect in a Very Different Direction

Spoiler alert! If you haven't yet played Mass Effect 3 and you've somehow managed to avoid the cacophony of noise surrounding its ending, stop reading now. I'll give you a moment to turn away from you monitor... Okay, off we go. Commander Shepard already cheated death once. Don't expect him to do it again. BioWare is already laying the foundation for the next chapter in the Mass Effect franchise, and it promises it won't be resurrecting Shepard or even replacing him with another carbon copy space soldier.

In an interview with VG24/7, BioWare Producer Fabrice Condominas said the studio will stick to its word -- alive or dead, Shepard's journey ended in ME3.

"There is one thing we are absolutely sure of – there will be no more Shepard, and the trilogy is over," Condominas said. "This is really our starting point. Now the Mass Effect universe is vast, and very, very rich. So at this point in time, we don't even know what kind of time frame we're going to be in. All we're doing is more gathering ideas from the teams, gathering feedback to see several things."

"So first, we don't want to make 'Shepard 2,' or Mass Effect 4 with like, 'Oh there's no more Shepard but you're a soldier in the universe.' So this will be a very, very different context for sure, and nothing has been decided on the rest."

Like everyone else, I wasn't impressed that my many choices didn't wind up making any difference whatsoever at the end of ME3, but I also didn't hate how BioWare wrapped things up. I'm also impressed the studio would stick to its guns and leave its gaming icon behind. As for the future, BioWare did paint itself into a corner with the whole Star Child, Reapers as cyclical destroyers of life bit, and the three choices players were given at the end of ME3. Set the next Mass Effect in the past, and the Reapers loom over everything that takes place -- even if they're never mentioned. Set it in the future, and the whole Control, Destroy, or Synthesize decision would seem to have a massive impact on how the universe evolved. Bottom line: I have no clue how BioWare can pull off another Mass Effect without major issues.

How about you? Where would you like to see Mass Effect go, and how do you think BioWare could do it without glaring plot holes?